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The Dispatch breaks down the proposed levy. See what it means for you.

Columbus schools' proposed 9.01 mill levy promises to cover a lot of ground: It would shore up
funding for district operations, send about $8.5 million to deserving charter schools, finance new
buildings, pay for more pre-Kindergarten education and advance computer technology in the district.
The Dispatch is taking an in-depth look at each aspect of the levy.

The Columbus City Schools levy includes a $175 million bond issue to continue the district’s 11-year-old school-rebuilding project. Passing Issue 50 on Tuesday would set in motion $207 million in construction during the next four years — $150 million from the bond issue and $57 million from the state — replacing or extensively rehabbing 10 buildings, including two high schools and a new preschool center.

The campaign supporting the Columbus City Schools property-tax levy spent $2.27 million through Oct. 16, mostly from large corporate and union donations, according to the report it filed with the Franklin County Board of Elections yesterday.

Every middle- and high-school student in Columbus City Schools would get a portable computer that might become a take-home device to assist in their learning if voters approve a 9.01-mill levy on the Nov. 5 ballot.

DISPATCH file photoMayor Michael B. Coleman urged passage of the levy a day after a rosier financial picture emerged for city schools.
School levies raise money, but Mayor Michael B. Coleman said yesterday that Columbus City Schools’ proposed property-tax levy is about reform. “It’s about reform versus the status quo,” Coleman said. “It’s always been about reform. The status quo is unacceptable.”

Tom Dodge | DispatchColumbus City Schools’ roughly $800 million general-fund budget is now projected to show a surplus for almost two more years without any new levy money.
Columbus City Schools’ financial picture got intensely brighter yesterday, but district officials say that doesn’t dim the need for residents to pass a tax issue on next month’s ballot. When district Treasurer Penny Rucker delivered the six-month update of the state-mandated five-year spending and revenue plan to the school board last night, next school year’s $19.2 million operational deficit had changed to a surplus — of $51.1 million.

Columbus City Schools’ proposed property-tax levy is either an urgent solution to reform education or a misguided rush to raise money that will be handed to officials who still haven’t fessed up to data-rigging, according to a moderated levy discussion last night.

Columbus City Schools’ proposed property-tax levy dedicates $8.5 million a year to “recruit, retain and train high-quality teachers and principals,” but officials have no detailed plan for how that money would be spent.

Members of the Columbus Council of PTAs have voted not to endorse the Columbus City Schools levy, with several voicing objections to it during a meeting on Tuesday with Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman that at one point became contentious.

Members of the Columbus Council of PTAs have voted not to endorse the Columbus City Schools levy, with several voicing objections to it during a meeting on Tuesday with Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman that at one point became contentious.

The proposed Columbus City Schools’ property-tax levy would provide preschool to all 4-year-olds in the district by 2020, its backers say. But the levy won’t raise nearly enough money to reach that goal. It’s uncertain where the remaining millions it would take to achieve that goal would come from.

What would the proposed levy cost a homeowner? The annual cost of the levy for this house, valued at $58,600, would be $184.80.
Just a quarter of charter schools in Franklin County have the A or B ratings they’d need to qualify for a share of property-tax money from a proposed Columbus City Schools levy.

What will it cost me?

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